Automobiles are commonly equipped with fold-up or fold-back sun visors that block sun light or sun rays from the a top portion of the front windshield to enable drivers and front passengers to reduce glare to provide a clearer view of the road ahead. Such visors also typically pivot and can be moved to the driver side or passenger side windows to partially block the sun.
These visors were primarily designed to block the sun rays that could cause problems for drivers to see the road ahead and they perform that function adequately. The pair of sun visors (driver's side and passenger's side) does not cover the entire width of the windshield. Secondly, there is no solution from auto makers to prevent damage to the auto interior caused during the day when automobiles are parked on streets or in uncovered parking areas from exposure to sun.
Sun visors have seen some minor improvements since their original invention and design, such as including a vanity mirror and light, visor extendable to the center to cover the gap between the two visors (available only in luxury segment of automobiles) and holders of cloth or vinyl CD storage, commonly called automobile Visor CD holders.
Further, the two sun visors that are typically provided by the manufacturer of an automobile are not aesthetic items, in that they break the smooth form of the roof liner and the interior. They are perhaps the most antiquated products in the modem automobiles which have power seats and windows, and many more advancements automobiles are witnessing now.
Also, visors currently in the market are not designed to protect the interior of their automobiles from the heat and glare from sun when they are parked most of the day in uncovered parking lots or on streets in residential areas. The heat and direct sunlight damage the interior of the car and also affect the performance of the air conditioning. Additionally, current sun visors do not restrict a direct view of the interior which may contain shopping or other valuable items that may attract burglars.
Consumers are left with no other choice but to pay extra money and buy after-market products that cover the entire windshield and prevent damage to their car interior and also reduce the interior heating of the seats, air and steering column, especially in summer and in cities that are prone to high temperatures. These after-market products are quite clumsy, and require a discipline of the car operator to faithfully install the apparatus after each driving session, and remove the same prior to again driving. Each of these tasks is manual. Further, such a device must typically be folded up or rolled up upon removing it, and a storage location must be provided for the device when not in use. These requirements are often too onerous for the typical driver, and the device ends up not being used after a short period of time, or only used sporadically.
In summary, existing pair of visors have several disadvantages: they do not cover the entire width of the windshield; they are not designed to and do not protect the interior of the car from sun damage and heat, and thus consumers have to pay extra to protect the interior of their automobiles; they are not aesthetically pleasing; and they haven't seen any substantial technological improvement since their invention, unlike many other features of the automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,984 B1 to Reina Jr. discloses a retractable windshield made of plastic or glass that slides down on the driver's side. Passenger side functioning is optional and independently operable. The device of Reina Jr. cannot be deployed as a visor when an automobile is in drive mode. Further, it may not be deployable in an automobile that has a sun/moon roof as there would not be sufficient room for the retractable panel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,544 to Hubeshi describes a “window only” sun visor and doesn't offer the dual benefits of a full cover device that also functions as a visor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,284 to Mahler discloses an extendable sun visor that covers the windshield all the way down but leaves a gap in between the two visors and doesn't effectively cover the entire windshield nor provide the full benefits like cutting off the heat and glare that damage an automobile interior. Further, it is not feasible to deploy Mahler's device on the rear windshield. Still further, none of the aforementioned patents disclose full coverage of windshields for protecting the interior of the automobile from sun damage and/or providing security to articles contained within the automobile.
Several patents for sun shield or windshield covers include U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,839 to Moore which provides retractable screens to cover all the areas where glass is used. Moore's covers are restricted in the sense that only one objective is achieved, that is to cut off the heat and glare when an automobile is parked. Moore's device does not provide the ability to function as a visor while an automobile is in drive mode and doesn't account for the sun roof which is almost a standard feature in most luxury cars that would obstruct the installation of the storage recesses. Additionally, the screens disclosed are provided in addition to the automobile visors and are not a replacement thereof, and hence require an additional cost to an auto manufacturer. This is a strong disincentive for automakers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,284 to Leatherman discloses a pair of sun shade assemblies for the windshield that are deployed from side to side, that is from “A” pillar to “A” pillar. The assembly is deployed only when the vehicle is parked and can't offer visor position while an automobile is in drive mode. Additionally, the existing visors of the automobile are required for the visor function, and hence an added cost to automakers is presented, which is a disincentive. U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,558 to Cline describes a corrugated fiber board material that attaches to the existing pair of visor shades for a full cover roll-able windshield cover. This device is usable only in parked vehicles and provides a potential replacement for other after market windshield covers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,211 to Schlecht et al describes a retractable windshield cover with stretchable/expandable material but doesn't offer the visor function for automobiles in drive mode nor interlocks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,238 to Mohtasham describes a windshield cover, in addition to the existing automobile visors, to prevent sun damage to the interior and is deployable only in a parked automobile. U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,829 to Schlecht et al. does not appear to address usability with a vehicle that has a sun/moon roof, nor does it address safety requirements for the safe operation of automatic shade devices in a vehicle, and therefore does not provide any safety interlock, nor does it provide any interlock whatsoever, such as one that acts as theft deterrent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,149 to Lee describes a device for the purpose of shielding the interior of a parked vehicle from sunlight, which includes a retractable windshield shade assembly mounted at the front edge of an existing sun visor. A reflective coating on the exterior surface of said shade reflects part of the radiant energy. It may be swung to the side to serve as a front side window shade. In that position, it cannot function as a visor while an automobile is in drive mode. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,997,501 and 6,682,121 to Conforti, describe sun shades for use with and mounting to a side or rear automobile window. They do not address any of the functionality of providing a dual function sun screen for a front windshield of an automobile. U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,076 to McVicker describes a bottom up sun barrier and does not work as a visor for automobiles in drive mode.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,289,644 and 2,549,395 describe sun visors. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,023 to Kawada describes an extendable visor that can be extended vertically and laterally to cover a gap between the visors. U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,599 to Svensson is a two part (pair of visors) device with increased cover of the top portion of the windshield, but doesn't offer the full windshield cover functionality nor is it a powered solution. U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,879 to Gillum discloses a portable compact sun visor that could be placed over the rear view mirror post to cover the gap between the existing pair of visors to block off the sun entering from around the mirror, but lacks a full windshield coverage capability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,139 to Yamada describes a variable shading plastic that is housed under the roof liner in addition to the existing visors, to be deployed to reduce glare. It does not replace the existing visors, nor does it provide full windshield cover. U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,910 to Mersman, et al. provides a “two visors” concept as it currently exists but with the added benefit of stowability in the headliner and a smaller pivoting extension to cover the gap between the pair of visors. This doe not provide full windshield cover, not is it power driven. U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,110 to Mykytiuk describes a stowable visor with vanity mirror and doesn't provide the full windshield cover, nor is it power driven. U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,227 to Pax Jr. et al, describes a visor only solution which is pivotable and extendable but does not provide full windshield cover.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,443,300 and 5,720,508 to Mohammed describe a power glare screen that provides windshield cover. It is a power tinted two plastic screen solution that leaves a gap in the middle and doesn't provide security or obstruct interior view. U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,427 to Vandagriff discloses a sun visor attachment adapted to be secured to a preexisting sun visor, but does not offer a windshield cover solution nor a power deployment feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,086 to Bauer et al. describes a sun visor only and does not offer the full windshield cover. U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,328 to Quapil discloses a sun visor only solution that is manually adjustable for optimal shading against the sun. It is not a windshield cover solution nor is it power deployable. U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,987 to Rossiter discloses a glare reducing tinted plastic/glass visor for safe driving during day and night. This does not offer a windshield cover solution nor heat obstruction or privacy barrier when an automobile is parked in uncovered parking areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,762 to Anderson is a shade control for a vehicle window only and U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,786 to Messerschmidt et al is an assembly for a roll-up sun screen in a motor vehicle. These and the above patents solve one or the other problem—either a visor or a windshield cover that provides security in parked vehicles. They do not offer the dual benefit of functioning integrally as both sun visors and sun barrier apparatus.
WO/2005/090107 to Yamada describes a sun visor solution only and doesn't provide the windshield cover option. WO/2005/030512 to Araga and Kosokawa is a pair concept improvising over the current pair of visors concept, and does not provide a power option nor a windshield cover option.
WO/2004/060704 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0119313 to Naik, Sanjeev includes electro-chromatic material in the visors that pivot to be deployed on the windows as well and are extendable or mechanically rollable to cover the windshield or the windows. The electro-chromatic shades provide variable shading. The solution is expensive because of the requirements for components such as digital cameras, electro-chrome material, microcontrollers, etc., for the driver- and passenger-side visors. Further, when an automobile is parked and engine is shut down, the visor material, the digital cameras and the microcontrollers would all be shut down, thereby disabling the windshield shading function of this device, and therefore not providing security to the interior components of the car. WO/2004/039616 to Silvini describes a visor only solution. WO/2003/010020 to Davey, et al. is provided in addition to the existing visors of an automobile and allows for the visors to be extended to cover the gap between the pair of visors. WO/2001/034418 to Truitt also describes a visor extension built on the current visor apparatus, and does not provide full windshield cover.
It would be desirable to have a product that would function integrally as both a sun visor and also as a full sun barrier, and which could be integrated into an automobile by its manufacturer, to provide both an aesthetically pleasing, form fit product, as well as one that could function efficiently for both purposes. It would further be desirable to provide such a product with safety features, such as the ability to provide security to the interior components of the automobile when it is parked and the ability to prevent deployment of full sun shades when the vehicle is moving. It would further be desirable to provide such a product with a theft deterrent capability.